1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operator identifying device and an onboard apparatus that utilizes the operator identifying device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an operator identifying device that identifies whether an operator of an operating section is a driver or a non-driver, and an onboard apparatus that utilizes an operator identification result of the operator identifying device to control operability of the onboard apparatus.
2. Background Information
An example of an onboard apparatus is a navigation system. If a driver operates the navigation system when a vehicle is moving, the driver could be distracted by complex operations of the navigation system. Thus, the amount of time spent by the driver watching the road ahead is reduced while the driver is distracted by the complex operations of the navigation system. In view of this situation, the navigation systems of prior art are interlocked with vehicle speed sensors and the like to permit only simple operations when the vehicle is in motion. The complex operations, such as setting a destination, are not permitted while the vehicle is moving. Thus, with the navigation systems of prior art, it is necessary to stop the vehicle in order to perform such complex operations. Consequently, a person riding in the passenger's seat who is not driving also cannot perform any complex operation, e.g., setting a destination, while the vehicle is moving.
Therefore, an operator identifying device that determines whether an operator is a driver or not and utilizing the operator identifying device in an onboard apparatus such as a navigation system is a feasible means of resolving this problem. A related device of prior art is a hand movement recognizing device, which identifies movements of a hand. This type of the hand movement recognizing device is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-272974. The device presented in this publication uses left and right camera images to detect/extract left and right hands of a single person and recognize the bodily movements or hand movements of the person.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved operator identifying device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.